UNL hosts international conference to address, curb human trafficking

Human trafficking is a dilemma that exists in every corner of the globe -- by some estimates, some 28 million people worldwide are enslaved against their will. That number includes an estimated 1.5 million globally who are forced into prostitution.

In recent years, efforts by governments, law enforcers and other activists have made headway in reducing those disheartening numbers. But, rarely do such far-flung groups gather with the purpose of sharing knowledge that goes beyond specific cases, and try to uncover the why, the how and the methods to end human slavery.

Later this month, that need will be filled by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking -- a gathering that, for the second year in a row, will bring together officials, non-governmental organizations and law enforcers from around the world to share research and resources that tackle human trafficking.

This year's conference, "Global Knowledge: What We Know And What We Need to Know," will be Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at the Embassy Suites Lincoln. More than 100 participants will attend the nearly 50 intensive, interactive presentations on all aspects of human trafficking.

"The central question of this conference is 'What is the truth?' We're not just asking how many people this affects around the world, but how it happens -- and what are the ideas that we all have to stop it," said Dwayne Ball, UNL associate professor of marketing and a member of the university's Human Trafficking Team, an interdisciplinary group that is working to make UNL a hub for human-trafficking research.

"By having people share what they see and the methods they use to address different problems, we have good reason to hope that we'll see some results."

E. Benjamin Skinner, author of "A Crime so Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery," will launch the conference as part of the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues at UNL. His lecture, which will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St., is free and open to the public.

In Skinner's book, he tells the story of individuals who live in slavery, those who have escaped from bondage, those who own or traffic in slaves, and the mixed political motives of those who seek to combat these crimes.

The conference will examine human trafficking from dozens of viewpoints and will feature sessions on human trafficking for recruiting terrorists; trafficking's factors and motives; deterrence models to curb the problem; and trafficking's effect on children.

The conference is part of a broad-based effort at UNL to become an international hub for human trafficking research. UNL's Human Trafficking Team includes Ball; Rochelle Dalla, professor in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies; Ron Hampton, associate professor of marketing; Anchalee Panigabutra-Roberts, assistant professor and metadata and multicultural services librarian at UNL Libraries; Josephine Potuto, professor of constitutional law; Sriyani Tidball, lecturer in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications; and Brian Wilcox, professor of psychology and Director of UNL's Center on Children, Families and the Law.

For more information and to see a full conference schedule, go to http://humantrafficking.unl.edu.

WRITER: Steve Smith, University Communications, (402) 472-4226